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I wasn’t going to do this post but then I figured… Why not. A lot changed in 2016 and I feel like marking it.

The new job I got a few months prior to the year beginning got more challenging and more rewarding, which also meant more time-consuming. Therefore both my amount of books read and focus on reading plummeted.
There were still a few books I truly enjoyed and I would like to highlight them.

My reading preferences also changed. I have grown weary of reading short story anthologies as I feel I can’t write a proper review without mentioning each of them and that grows tiresome and makes reading a chore, which is exactly what I want to avoid.
Also, I used to be much more into sci-fi and fantasy, particularly dystopias, but the YA direction those books took over time let me down and I ended up shying away from those and focusing on my new thing: psychological thrillers. I really enjoyed discovering this wonderful genre.

Out of a total of 60 books read, and in chronological order as they were all different and I can’t really say I preferred one over the other, here are my favourite five books of 2016. The cover links to my review and the name to the book’s page on GoodReads.

My, what a book. It was unlike anything I had ever read. A 5 year-old as a narrator will do that, I guess. But the circumstances in which this boy lived and the way he interpreted them was what was so moving and heart-breaking.
This book confronts us with the uggliest of humanity and you cannot help but became in awe at Jack. Granted, some things may not have been very realistic but really, they were so minor it isn’t even worth getting into it.
I highly recommend this book. Do be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions.

This was my fantasy book of the year. It is utterly enchanting. The way Jacob’s life turns from the mundane to the wondrous was masterfully done and there were many surprises along the way, as well as a great dose of tension and suspense, that made this experience quite a treat.
It is amazing that an author can conceive such a story from viewing a few photographs of real peculiar children.
I have the sequel sitting on my shelf for a while now but I pre-ordered the third book of the series so am aiming to read #2 closer to that date.
Oh and so much better than the movie, as usual.

This book has been around for decades but I only manage to get to it in 2016. It was well worth the wait. Three of these novellas were adapted to movies and for good reason.
There were a few things in The Body that annoyed me but it was still a heart-warming story. As for the other three… Wow.Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption was so clever. King’s prose is so engaging and part of the charm is how Red, the narrator, portrays Andy Dufresne. Both these characters grow on us and if you haven’t seen the movie the unveiling of how Dufresne did it will certainly wow you.
I had heard about Apt Pupil but it caught me so off-guard. That kid was creepy as hell.
Again, I found the story so much better than the movie – there is just a depth that King’s words can reach that is just not possible to convey through images.
It took me a while to remember the The Breathing Method but when I did my eyebrow went up. It got a bit grotesque at a point and it is part of its charm. Of the four, I would say it is the only one with a heaviest hint of fantasy, and the closest to what King usually writes.
Terrific collection!

I guess this was the psychological thriller of the year for me!
The narrative goes back between past and present events and it is very well done. There are three main events: the murder which is set as a premise for the other events, a disturbing case that our narrator Anne was in contact many years prior, and the events triggered by a group’s boss being fired. These are all very different and I enjoyed reading about all.
The several voices we read about are excellent and the narrative style only took a bit of getting used to and then it did not become overwhelming at all. I remember that when each chapter finished I immediately had to read what came next and was disappointed when the voice changed because I really wanted to know what came next but it was good anticipation.
The reveal blew me away and this was simply a terrific reading experience that I definitely recommend to fans of the genre. I would love to read more by this author.

This was definitely not something I would have usually read. The Irish dialect was intriguing and the way the author phrased the events left me breathless because those sentences were long but I really didn’t mind, it kept me engaged.
This main character is indeed quite flawed. Her introspection is enthralling and while I never really felt sorry for her I related to her conundrum and that is proof of great writing, in my book.
There is a lot of depth to this character and I really loved her father.
It’s one of those stories you can’t really delve into what happened, it just needs to be appreciated to its fullest.

And that’s it for my yearly wrap-up.
Do you have one? Please link the post in comments!

I am not sure if any of you have noticed, but I don’t have YA as a book genre in my blog. Quite frankly, the notion still baffles me. I am not even sure if I fully understand it, because I have seen it defined accordingly to the characters age and also to the audience’s age. It seems that the latter prevails, or at the very least a mixture of the two.

While I can understand that it may make books easier to find, defining a book by age categories seems extremely restrictive and I have found that the same formulas get used over and over again.
Ever since the YA genre came out, I cannot seem to find, for instance, a fantasy book I enjoy. Sure, there is New Adult now as well, but I cannot seem to relate to either the writing or the topics in books classified as such. On the other hand, if I pick up a YA book I am usually faced with much of the same teenage dramas, romance and, at times, tantrums.

I thoroughly miss a solid fantasy novel with characters I can relate to and which does not necessarily include romance. Something that presents a new world, one that is unique but makes sense and utterly enthrals me in the story. I cannot seem to find that anymore and I am convinced it has gotten worse since these categories were released to public.

What do you think? Have the YA and NA categories done more good or harm to the book industry, in terms of quality of books, not marketability?
Do you find any of the points I made make sense?
Tell me everything!

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Thanks to Chris, I came across this post. The author of it writes about what it is like to be on the other side when dealing with a review – as an author instead of a reader. I have often wondered what that would be like, so figured it was time to post about it and see what you fine folks think.

Today’s random chat is:WHAT IS A GOOD REVIEW?

First of all, regarding the post I linked, I agree with most of what the author wrote, except for his ‘golden rule’:

One last thing (and this is a “Golden Rule,” as far as I am concerned): If you can’t give at least a 3-star rating for a book, on a scale of 1 through 5 (or, in academic parlance, a C), then it’s best not to post a review at all. My rationale for that is that anyone who devotes anywhere from six months to a couple of years writing a book, deserves, at a minimum, a passing grade of C, or a 3-star rating for their effort alone. Anything less is an insult, and that violates the “no personal attacks” thing.

I have to say that, as a reviewer, I found it difficult not to take offence when reading this. As far as I am concerned, everyone is entitled to share their opinion as long as it is done in a civilized manner, with no intent to offend or hurt anyone. Every single time I have given a 1 or 2 star review, I can honestly say that is what I have done. At least tried my best to; obviously I will be annoyed at wasting my time, but it is never personal. To me, reviewing a book is exactly the same as reviewing any other product. I will state what I liked, what I did not like, and why – period.
So reading that what I take such care to do – so thoroughly explaining why I did not like a book -, putting me in the same bag as all those This book sucks!!! sort of opinions and whatnot is insulting and constitutes as a personal attack is incredibly disappointing, to say the least. I can honestly say I have never tried to hurt an author’s feelings – on the contrary, more often than not I will say that just because this book did not work for me that does not mean other people won’t like it -, and I can surely say the same for the incredible amount of fine reviewers I have met since I started reviewing the books I read.

Now I would like to stress that I am not posting this with any intent of bashing this author; as I said, I did agree with most of his post and I think he makes great points. It’s just that I believe several people may agree with the part I quoted, and so I wanted to both have my say and find out what other people think about this.

While I can understand why an author would say something like this, as far as I am concerned, two main things:

1) Not everyone that takes 6 months to a couple of years to write a book should have done it. Not everyone can be a writer. Just because you put a lot of effort into something does not mean it is good. If it’s your passion, fine, go ahead and do it, and always try your best, but you should have no expectations. That goes for pretty much anything in life, in my opinion.

2) You are never going to please everyone. While another person loved a certain thing, someone else will hate it. That happens with every single thing in life! I am not going to feel offended because, say, someone did not like my cooking. Should I make it personal just because I put so much time and effort in it? Hell no. I may be disappointed, but so what? I know some people will say that is not the same, and they will be right, but the principle is the same: take it and move on. That’s life.

Let me start with the obvious: Personal attacks are pointless and only speak ill of the reviewer. However, a low rating does not mean that a review is bad, if it is well explained and justified. As far as I am concerned, all authors need to be prepared to receive 1 and 2 star ratings as much as 3, 4 and 5 ones. Giving a low rating is not a matter of rudeness or lack of respect, but of honesty. If we didn’t like the book, then we will not give it 3 or more stars just for the sake of not hurting the author’s feelings. It is a matter of respect towards the other authors whose work we have read and thoroughly enjoyed.

Now, onto what makes a good review.
Again, this is a matter of personal opinion so, if you think differently, please don’t be offended.

I see a lot of reviews where roughly 80% of the text describes in detail what happens in the book. That is not a good review in my book. I don’t want to know what happens in the book, I want to discover it as I go. If the blurb does not give a good idea of the book, then summarize it. Briefly. Only enough to get a clear picture of what one can expect from it.

I do, however, want to know what feelings and thoughts the book awoke in the reader. Did he or she like it? If so, why? What did they think of the writing? Was it easy to follow the story, did it flow well? Were the characters multi-dimensional, and could you see them grow throughout the narrative? Is the world well-developed? Were the plot twists predictable? Did the reader experience any emotions? If so, which?
I want to know those things in detail so that I can know if I would enjoy the book or not. Often times, the issues that the reviewer had with the book are things I would find annoying myself, so that’s when I know if I would like it or not and that is what will ultimately help me decide if I will get the book – not because I know the story beforehand.

Something that should be obvious – NO SPOILERS!!. The very least people can do is clearly tag them (I do that by changing font and background colour, so people who want to view spoilers will have to highlight the text). Please, don’t give away major plot twists. It totally ruins the experience.

And that’s about it, other than not writing something too big, but I am guilty of that myself. I do proofread and edit my texts several times before posting, but everything seems important for one reason or the other. Because of what I wrote above, I think some things will appeal to one reader more, other things to different readers.
I guess low rating reviews will naturally be longer, since I try my best to explain why I am giving it.

Anyway, I try to do these things in my reviews, though I will be the first to admit I may not always succeed. Not on purpose, though!

With which points of this post do you agree and disagree with?
What do you feel makes a good review?
What do you think I should do differently in my own reviews?